Coelioscopy Health Dictionary

A method of viewing the interior of the abdomen in patients in whom a tumour or some other condition requiring operation may be present but cannot with certainty be diagnosed. The examination is carried out by making a minute opening under local anaesthesia, and inserting an ENDOSCOPE – a long ?exible instrument bearing an electric lamp and telescopic lenses like that for examining the bladder (CYSTOSCOPE) – into the abdominal cavity. Certain of the abdominal organs can then be directly inspected in turn.

n. the technique of introducing an *endoscope through an incision in the abdominal wall to examine the intestines and other organs within the abdominal cavity.